I Can't Outrun You
by MariahajilE
Summary: A girl who can't trust. A guy who wants to show her how. A short story about how love really is all you need. E/B. M for lemons, language, love, laughter, and life.
1. Let This Go

**Title and writing inspiration: bit . ly/1vxyDvX**

**Character pics on the blog: bit . ly/1qpjRat**

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**Thanks be to MrsSpaceCowboy and lellabeth for pre-reading.**

**Thanks be to beegurl13 for the lovely banner. **

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The moment Bella reaches her bedroom, the adrenaline kicks in. She grabs her already-packed suitcase, makes sure it includes everything on her list, and dumps out her purse onto the bed. She grabs what she needs from that pile and begins placing it into her empty backpack. She ignores the aftershave and Old Spice deodorant on the bathroom counter as she reaches for her toothbrush inside the medicine cabinet and her travel bag of shower supplies underneath the sink. She places them both inside her backpack, checks her list again, grabs his black hoodie from behind the bedroom door, and makes her way downstairs with everything.

As she's taking them to her car, she calls Charlie.

"Hey, Dad."

"My beautiful pain in the ass," he laughs. "How are ya, kiddo?"

"Are you working tonight?" she asks, completely bypassing his question.

"No. I worked the day shift. Why?"

"I decided to get a jump on this trip to Renee's, so I'm leaving tonight. If traffic isn't a problem, I should be there by six."

"Everything okay?" Charlie asks, his voice instantly going from playful father to concerned cop. "I thought you guys were starting tomorrow morning."

"I've been better," she admits. "But I'll see you tonight?"

"Sure."

"Okay."

"Drive safe, kiddo. Love you."

"Love you, too, Dad."

After hanging up, Bella heads back up the porch steps to lock the house. She stares at the open letter on the kitchen table for a minute before she sets the alarm and pulls the door shut.

She's in her car and pulling out of the driveway before she can change her mind.

Once she's just outside Seattle, she calls Angela, frustrated when her voicemail answers.

"It's me. I, uh…" she begins, clearing her throat. "I left."

She's quiet for a bit before she begins again.

"I need to think, Angie. There's so much…"

Before her emotions get the best of her, Bella takes a deep breath.

"I'll call you when I can. I love you."

Bella ends the call, turns up the radio, and hums along to whatever's on, needing to drown out her thoughts just for a little while.

When she arrives in Port Angeles a couple of hours later, she stops at a gas station to top off, buys a large bottle of water, and texts Charlie her ETA. As soon as she pulls out of the station, her phone rings, and she answers without checking the caller ID. She already knows who it is.

"Hey."

"Hey," Angela replies.

Bella immediately begins to tear up.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Angela's voice is full of concern, though it's without surprise.

"No."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"Not right now."

"Okay. Just check in every once in a while, so I know you're okay."

"Okay," Bella whispers. "I love you, Ella."

"I love you, too, La La."

Bella's about to hang up before that pulling sensation in her chest gets the best of her.

"Wait! Ella?"

"I'm here."

"Does he… Has he…"

"I don't think he's home yet."

With that, Bella says her goodbye once more and hangs up.

She spends the next hour thinking about what she doesn't want to think about. She turns the volume up as high as it'll go in the hopes that it'll drown out the chaos that refuses to leave her.

It's not until she's almost to Forks that she feels her phone vibrate with a text message.

_Be home in half an hour. Stopping to grab a pizza. Feel like watching something? Your pick. Love you._

Bella pulls over to the side of the road and stares at the message. Nothing about it is out of the ordinary. It's a message she's received many times before. But it's the ordinary that makes her realize how extraordinary it really is, and that thought is more than she can stand.

The moment she feels her emotions slipping, she shuts off her screen, effectively ridding herself of Edward's text for the time being. She collects herself and pulls back onto the road, grateful when the Welcome to Forks sign comes into view.

It's not long before she arrives at Charlie's. Her childhood home hasn't changed much ‒ if at all ‒ since she was a kid, and she's thankful for that.

With all of the changes going on around her, she needs something familiar.

Before she's even opened her door, Charlie's walking out of the house still in his uniform. His handsome face is graced by a smile she knows she's the cause of. It reminds her of another smile she knows she's also the cause of, and her heart beats harder within her chest. But she lets go of that to focus on her dad.

"Hey, old man," Bella greets, a teasing smile on her face.

Charlie keeps walking toward her as he quickly glances behind him.

"Who are you talking to?" he asks with a laugh before pulling her into his arms for a hug, the type that have always reminded Bella that everything would be okay.

"How are you? How was the drive?"

He grabs her bag for her, closes her car door, and ushers her toward the house.

"Both good. You? How was work?"

"The usual. It's Forks. You know how that goes."

Walking through the front door and into the kitchen, Bella smiles at the well-known features of the room and takes in the silence.

"Where is everyone?"

"Leah's out with Rachel. She's been running around crazy this past week over some big date she's got planned. I don't know what's gotten into her. "

"She didn't tell you?"

"Apparently not."

Charlie raises one of the only two take-out menus Forks has to offer, and Bella opts for pizza.

"Leah's asking Rachel to move in with her."

"No shit?"

"She called me last week for tips on how to make it romantic," she laughs. "I told her I had no idea and gave the phone to‒"

Before she can stop it, the memory of Edward sitting at their kitchen table and passing on suggestions to her stepsister flood her mind. She pictures his smile, sincere in the happiness he wanted for Leah, and remembers his words about doing something that's distinctly them, not cliché.

Noticing Charlie's confusion over her sudden pause, Bella clears her throat.

"She talked to Edward. So," she begins, needing to quickly change the subject. "Jake? Sue?"

Charlie gives his order to the person on the other end of the line before he hangs up and answers her.

"He's probably at the shop with Sam."

"He still freaking out over the baby?"

"Not really," he replies. "They have their first appointment with the doctor this week, so it's safe to say he's accepted it. Actually, I get the feeling he's happy about becoming a dad."

Charlie grabs a beer from the fridge and follows Bella into the living room. He takes his seat in his favorite recliner, the bane of Sue's existence, while Bella plops down on the couch.

"And my wicked stepmother?" she asks, smiling.

"As evil as ever," Charlie laughs. "She's at some last-minute women's retreat the tribe wanted her to oversee. She gets back on Sunday. It's not soon enough, if you ask me."

As usual, Charlie's face lights up when he talks about Sue, the love he has for her plain as day. It immediately makes her think of Edward and how she can always tell what he's feeling just by looking at him.

It makes her wonder what she's doing, why she's running this time, and her smile fades.

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Charlie and Bella exchange random chit-chat as they eat dinner. He keeps glancing over at her, and she knows he's going to ask where Edward is and why they're not leaving for Arizona together. Bella's not ready to voice what's plaguing her, so she hopes Charlie will give her some more time before the inquisition begins.

Sure enough, the questions start as soon as he clears the table.

"So, where's Edward?"

"Can we not, Dad? I really don't wanna talk about it."

"Bella, I deserve an explanation at the very least. I was already worried about you taking this road trip to see Renee, and now you show up early and alone. Where's Edward?"

Bella sighs and runs her hands over her face.

"He's probably at the house. I don't know," she says, shaking her head, irritated. "Seriously. I don't wanna talk about this."

Once Bella calms down and admits to herself that Charlie's only asking because he loves her and is concerned, she gives him what she can.

"Nothing's changed. I'm still driving to Phoenix. I'm still seeing Renee. I just need to do this alone."

"You need to see Renee alone because it's part of this closure you've been talking about, or you need to see Renee alone because you don't wanna do this with Edward?"

Bella exhales loudly but doesn't respond.

"Does he at least know? Did you tell him you were leaving?"

"No," Bella whispers, hanging her head.

Rather than push her for more information, Charlie simply pulls her out of her seat and draws her in for a hug. Bella manages to keep the tears at bay and is thankful that he's not pushing it.

"I hope you sort out whatever it is you're going through, kid. You know I'm here if you want to talk."

And for a few minutes, Bella holds on to her dad. When she hears the rain start to fall outside, she pulls away.

"I should get going."

"Why don't you stay the night and leave in the morning? I don't like the idea of you driving in the middle of nowhere alone, especially in the rain."

Bella quietly shakes her head before she grabs her bag from the floor next to the front door.

"It's better if I go now. I'll get a motel in Portland. Promise."

Bella gives him another hug before kissing his cheek and opening the front door.

"Keep your cell on. Call if you need anything."

"Of course. Thanks for the four-star meal," she jokes.

"Any time, kiddo. Be safe out there."

Bella knows it's not the out there so much as the inside of her mind – her thoughts ‒ she needs to safeguard from, but she nods just the same.

"Bye, Dad."

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**As always, I give no warnings regarding content, but I will say that nobody dies in this story. lol**

**I was going to wait until I had a majority of the story written before posting, but the nervous energy was becoming overwhelming. I don't know how many chapters it'll take, but this is a small, simple story. It won't be long at all. **

**I'm not sure when I'll have chapter 2 up, but I'm hoping it'll be in the next two weeks. After that, it'll post every Saturday until it's complete. **

**See you soon. **

**P.S. I missed you guys. :)**


	2. Feeling Sorry

**Thanks be to Nan, lella, and Nic for pre-reading.**

**Note: Everything before the break takes place in the present. Everything after takes place in the past.**

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It's almost 1am by the time Bella pulls into a Motel 6 in Portland. She leans back in the driver's seat and sighs, massaging her temples before reaching over to get her backpack. She avoids looking at her cell's screen as she puts it in her back pocket, knowing that there's at least one missed call from Edward.

It takes less than five minutes for her to check-in, and despite her exhaustion and plan to be up at six the next morning, she doesn't get into bed. She just… sits. She sits on the edge of the bed, staring at her suitcase and backpack on the only table the room offers. She knows she needs to brush her teeth, wash her face, and sleep, but the constant blinking light from her phone next to her stuff is making her heart race.

"Get your shit together, Bella. Christ."

With a groan of frustration, she stands and walks over to the table, nervously unlocking her phone. The picture of her and Edward kissing at their college graduation a few weeks ago stares back at her.

**June 20 1:06am**

Three missed calls.

Two text messages.

Two voicemails.

Charlie and Edward called, something she was expecting, but it's the missed call from Alice that makes her stare at her phone in uncertainty. Rather than satisfy her curiosity, she checks her texts first.

_He's home. He called me when he noticed your stuff was gone and you didn't answer. _

_I hope you're safe. Call me as soon as you get to wherever it is you're going tonight. Love you. _

Angela was never one to make Bella feel guilty about how she did or didn't work out her issues. She knew how Bella functioned, and being pushed into doing something she wasn't ready to do was not the way to get Bella to do anything.

Knowing she can't put off listening to the voicemails until tomorrow, she listens.

"_Hey, kid. It's just after midnight, and I haven't heard from you. Don't make your old man worry. I know I'd probably look good with gray hair, but let's keep my stress level to a minimum, okay? Call me when you get to Portland. Love ya_."

Bella immediately texts Charlie to let him know she's safe. She needs to be more mindful of the stress on his heart, and she berates herself for allowing her issues to cause him to worry.

"_Hey_."

Hearing his voice, Bella slumps back onto the bed.

"_I don't… I don't know what to say or do. I'm kind of at a loss here._"

He sighs.

"_Did I do something?_"

A pause.

"_Just… please check in with me, so I know you're okay. I'd love to hear your voice, but if you don't wanna call… Text me, I guess_."

There's another short pause before his voice softly comes back through the earpiece.

"_Peas and carrots, Bella_."

~ICOY~

"You little fuckers are adorable, but you'll have to shoot me before I ever get my ass into this fucking costume again," Bella mumbled.

She took a deep breath in, reminding herself that playing the Easter Bunny was the easiest route she could've taken as a sister for a sorority she really didn't care to be a part of, and then went back to engaging little kids.

Truth be told, she and Angela had spent most of the day quoting lines from the Easter scene in _Steel Magnolias_. When the little ones would go from cuties to terrors, it was the best way to make the time pass.

"How you holding up in there? Need any water?" Angela asked, doing her best to keep her voice down.

"Tequila. Bring tequila."

Angela laughed, sneaking her a bottle of water away from the kids' eyes, because they didn't want to be responsible for the kids finding out the Easter Bunny isn't real.

A couple of hours later, the kids were finally gone and Bella was able to remove the massive head of her costume.

"Well, if it isn't the cutest bunny I've ever seen."

Bella looked around to make sure little eyes were nowhere to be found and then flipped Emmett off.

"You would've never lasted five minutes in there," Bella replied, laughing.

"Of fucking course I would've," he responded with a scoff. "Right, Edward?"

Emmett looked to his left, only to find this 'Edward' – a gorgeous specimen of a man - smiling and shaking his head in response.

"You're an asshole. No wonder Mom loves me the best."

Edward rolled his eyes, and Bella couldn't help but laugh. Emmett and Bella continued their banter while Angela helped her out of her costume.

Bella waited a solid 30 seconds before shoving Emmett out of the way.

"Your brother has the manners of a monkey. Hi, I'm Bella."

She extended her hand and smiled when he shook it.

_Firm grip, but soft hands. What color of red is that under the beanie? Hmmm… But that smile and – oh, fuck – those eyes. He's not buff, but he definitely goes to the gym. Those jeans fit him _just_ right. He keeps checking out my tits, so he's probably not gay. Yeah. I'd totally bang him._

"Bunny Bella, this is my baby brother, Edward," Emmett chimed in. "Edward, this is Bella, the female version of me."

"Seriously?" she scoffed, turning to face Edward. "I'm smarter and prettier. He has a hard time accepting this."

"Are you done with this Easter Bunny shit, yet? We're meeting Rose for pizza. I'm fucking starving."

"Is every other word out of your mouth always 'fuck'?" Angela laughed.

"Fuck no," Emmett replied, smiling away.

"Yes, I'm done, and yes to food. I just need to shower the bunny off of me. We'll meet you at Volterra in half an hour."

As she turned to walk back to her dorm, she snuck a glance at Edward. He smiled at her, though not shyly, before he began to walk in the opposite direction with Emmett. It was then Bella noticed he pulled out a pack of cigarettes, which caused her to sigh.

"What?" Angela asked.

"The hottie smokes," Bella playfully whined. "There went that possibility."

A little over an hour later, the five of them were stuffing themselves with pizza. As always, Emmett and Bella exchanged friendly fire while Rosalie, Emmett's girlfriend, rolled her eyes and Angela laughed. And though Edward didn't say much, he was laughing right along with everyone. It didn't, however, go unnoticed how often Edward and Bella kept glancing at each other.

When Emmett went to order another pizza and the girls headed to the bathroom, Bella moved herself over to sit next to Edward. She struck up a conversation, and for the next hour, they ate and talked, though he only spoke when prompted.

She learned he was transferring in as a sophomore that summer, same as her, from San Francisco where he lived with his parents and younger sister. He was visiting Emmett for the weekend to check out the campus and to speak to the current freshman advisor.

Edward learned that Bella was a Kappa Delta sorority sister, though only in name. They needed her high GPA and all-around model student persona, and she needed the extracurricular on her resume for when she applied to med schools. She'd met Emmett at a mixer she was required to attend.

"Required?" Edward asked, trying not to laugh.

"I have to do a certain number of things in order to remain an official sister. Getting inside that costume today was one of them, but I consider it a plus. It was that or participate in one activity a month. No fucking way. There's only so much of those girls I can take," she laughed.

As Emmett headed to the cashier to settle the bill, Edward stood up and headed toward the door. Just before exiting, Bella saw him pull another cigarette out, and she immediately bolted out of her seat.

"I'll be right back."

"Take your time," Rosalie teased, wagging her eyebrows.

She caught up with him just as he was rounding the corner of the building and searching for his lighter.

"Hey."

"Hey," he replied, leaning against the building.

"Would you do me a favor?"

Before he could reply, she pulled the cigarette from between his lips and dropped it on the ground. Edward's hand automatically went to her lower back when she stood on her tiptoes to speak directly into his ear.

"If you don't mind, I'd really like it if you didn't smell like smoke while we're fucking later," she whispered.

He pulled his head back to look into her eyes, a slight smile on his face, and nodded.

"Good," she replied and then kissed him.

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"I don't feel like leaving this room," Bella mumbled, dramatically slumping over onto her bed.

"Come on," Angela laughed, pulling at her arms. "Think bio. Be bio," she joked.

"Fuck off," Bella said into her pillow, following it up with a laugh of her own.

"I'll even buy you one of those banana muffins from the café‒"

Their conversation interrupted, the two girls looked at each other, wondering who would be knocking on their door at nine in the morning, especially during the summer. As soon as Angela opened the door, she broke out into a smile.

"La La, it's for you," she said.

Confused as to whom it may be and why Angela was suddenly so happy, Bella nearly ran to the door, coming to a skidding halt when she saw who it was.

"Edward?"

"Hi, Bella."

The last time she'd seen Edward was two months prior after having spent the most of her afternoon with him, Emmett, Rosalie, and Angela. She also remembered spending the night with him. Vividly.

"Sorry to just show up like this, but I took a chance that you'd be up this early."

Bella moved to the side and let him in, though he only walked in far enough to close the door behind him.

"I brought breakfast," he smiled, holding up a brown bag in one hand and a carrier with two drinks in the other.

Angela grabbed the drinks from his hand to help, extremely surprised when Edward pointed out which was one was specifically for her.

"How did you know I like caramel macchiatos?" she asked.

"You mentioned it the last time I saw you."

"Oh," she replied, turning around to give Bella a look that could barely contain her giddiness. "Thank you."

"My way of apologizing for making you sleep somewhere else…" he trailed off, knowing she'd understand exactly what he was referencing.

As Bella watched Edward and Angela go through the bag full of breakfast goodies, her mind wandered to the last time she'd seen him. Or didn't see him. They'd had a great afternoon, gone back to her dorm, and had really good sex, and then she'd woken up to him gone. Of all the one-night stands she'd had, that one actually hurt a little. While she wasn't looking for a relationship, she thought the two of them had hit it off really well. But then she recognized the situation for what it was and did her best to put him out of her mind.

"I also wanted to apologize to you," Edward said, breaking Bella out of her thoughts.

"For what?" she asked, taking a sip of her black coffee, almost not realizing that he had remembered her usual morning drink, as well.

"For leaving the way I did. I slept through my alarm," he began, smiling as he looked down, "and I had less than an hour to catch my bus. I wanted to wake you, but you… looked comfortable. Beautiful."

"Oh."

Bella snuck a glance at Angela, who was now on her side of the room and pretending not to pay attention. The huge smile on her face was a dead giveaway, though.

"I would've left a note, but I didn't wanna go through your things to find a pen and paper."

Another surprise for Bella.

"I asked Emmett for your number, but he never got back to me with it. I assumed he'd at least give you mine, but he just forgot, I guess. I didn't find out until he was helping me unpack last night."

"It's fine, Edward. Really."

Bella took another drink of her coffee before she straightened her spine and cleared her throat.

"So, are you here for another fuck and run?" she said, sounding playful.

"La La!" Angela exclaimed.

Bella looked over to Angela's horrified face before glancing back to Edward's confused one.

"I, um… I actually wanted to know if you'd like to go out tonight. I thought…"

He looked back and forth between the two girls before looking away and sighing.

"I'm sorry. I'll just…"

He gestured toward the door behind him, opening it after waiting a second.

"It was nice to see you again," he said to Angela, smiling at her before looking over at Bella. "Maybe I'll see you around. Enjoy the banana muffins."

And with that, he walked out, closing the door quietly behind him.

For the next few minutes, there was no sound in the room. Bella didn't know what to say or think. She tried to make sense of what had just happened as she sat on her bed. Just as she was going to ask her best friend what the deal was…

"La La, I'm giving you 60 seconds to go after him before I throw your ass out of that window myself."

"Fuck."

Knowing she'd fucked up whatever had just happened, Bella scrambled to put on her running shoes and then took off out her door. She bypassed the elevator and took the four flights of stairs down, bursting through the front door of her dorm building. Spotting him a couple hundred yards away, Bella began to chase him.

"Edward! Hold on a second."

Upon hearing his name, Edward stopped and turned, surprised when he saw Bella running right at him. But as his disappointment faded, the confusion took over.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound like a bitch back there. It's just…"

Bella wasn't about to try to explain her words or actions, but she didn't want him to leave.

"If you're still up to it, I'd love to go out," she stated, a little surprised at how true the words were. "I have a couple of tests tomorrow, so I have to study today. But tomorrow night's good."

It took Edward a few seconds to realize what she saying, but his quiet came off as him having changed his mind.

"Unless you don't want to anymore," Bella mumbled, quickly looking away, something she _never_ did.

And that was when Bella realized that she was nervous. She was actually nervous at the idea that he didn't want to go out with her anymore. She didn't understand why or how to stop the feeling, but it immediately faded when Edward got her attention by playfully pulling on the end of her ponytail.

"I want to."

"Okay," she replied, not bothering to hide her smile.

She reached inside Edward's hoodie pockets to look for his phone, opened it, and put her number in his contacts.

"Call me, okay?"

"Okay. I'll pick you up at seven. Good luck on your tests."

Bella began to walk backwards, feeling happy and airy.

"Hey, Bella?"

She immediately stopped in her tracks and watched as Edward walked toward her. He gave her a small smile before he leaned down to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"By the way, I haven't smoked since I last saw you," he whispered against her cheek.

He kissed her once more, a little closer to her mouth, and smirked at her expression. He then turned and walked toward the student parking lot.

"Oh, Jesus. I'm in so much trouble," she quietly said to herself, watching his ass as he walked away.

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**So much for Saturday updates, huh? :/**

**See you guys soon(ish). **


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